8 whats gone wrong with the church a6 - wordpress.com · 2018. 6. 8. · title: microsoft word - 8...
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What's gone wrong with The ChurchWhat's gone wrong with The ChurchWhat's gone wrong with The ChurchWhat's gone wrong with The Church
The Church is the body of Christ Rom 7:4, 1 Cor 12:12, Eph 4:12, 5:23
If the Church is the body of Jesus Christ on earth,
it must follow that it is filled with His life. If His
life dwells in His body, then everything He stands
for will have priority. If He is the King of His
dwelling place, then everything to do with His
dwelling will be according to His will.
When people come to Jesus Christ in repentance
and obedience they are born again into His body
by His Spirit. Their old life they lived beforehand
goes to the cross of self denial in taking up their
cross to follow Him; at the same time they receive
a new life by the power of the Holy Spirit as they
are reborn according to His image and likeness so
they can live as holy children of God. This new
life from God is motivated by the Spirit according
to the will of God, to do and to work for His good
pleasure.
Since Jesus is God, and He has commanded all
those who follow Him to go and make disciples,
baptising and teaching them to obey all He has
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commanded, then all who follow Him are
disciples; and the disciple has no other wish other
than to please their Master who is King of all. As
a result, only those who do what Jesus
commanded are disciples and members of His
body the Church.
The Church suffers Satan's deception
While God is working for the salvation of the
world, Satan is determined to deny God in all
things. The world is Satan's hunting ground. (Eph 2:2) He is the "ruler of this world."
(John 12:31) In the world he spreads his
propaganda and lies to deceive anyone who might
want to know the truth. By confusing people about
what to believe, he intends to manipulate all
humanity.
Satan's story to mankind is aimed at exciting
human nature's pride and self-indulgent cravings
to have things their own way. As a result Satan's
schemes promote false beliefs that blind the
unbeliever to the truth of the Gospel.
An example of Satan's false belief is that man can
earn God's favour by performing religious acts. In almost every false religion, gaining God’s
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favour or earning eternal life is a major focus.
However, earning salvation by works is contrary
to the Bible's teaching. Man cannot work to earn
God's favour; eternal life is a free gift from God. (Eph 2:8-9) Satan, the god of this world, has
tempted mankind to follow his pride instead of
Christ. Satan sets the agenda, the unbelieving
world follows, and mankind continues to be
deceived. No wonder Satan is called a liar. John 8:44
Satan's world cleverly and persistently tries to
manipulate us into conformity with the world's
thinking, its value systems, and therefore its
attitudes and conduct. If we are alert and truly
guarding against an invasion of worldly attitudes
and practices in our lives, we will make ourselves
better equipped by God’s word to stand firm in
our faith and not compromise our commitment to
Christ.
What more, due to satanic effort to deceive
mankind, even though we are converted, we are
often quick to become misinformed, spiritually
lazy, disinterested, and discouraged. We must be
aware of this deception and absolutely resist it.
We must be alert that the world's pressure to
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conform to its ways never ends. Paul warns "Do
not be conformed to this world." Rom 12:2
James also gives a warning: "Do not love the
world or the things in the world. If anyone loves
the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (I John 2:15) This stresses strong dependability on
God rather than mere affectionate attachment.
Paul says: "God forbid that I should boast except
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the
world has been crucified to me, and I to the
world." Gal 6:14
True discipleship and Satan's easy way out
The Church as the body of Christ suffers in its
effectiveness as a result of Satan's deception;
because Satan now attacks the Church from
within; and casts doubts in peoples' minds as to
the real requirements of following Jesus. Another
of Satan's false ideas is that each person can
decide on their own terms how they come into the
Church. Therefore over the years there have been
many calls by faithful Christians complaining that
the Church has lapsed into worldly thinking in
wanting to make it easy for people to enter
heaven.
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The message of the faithful is that there is more
world in the Church than Church in the world,
because salvation is now a free for all. This easy
salvation message, while appealing to many who
continue to love the world, has resulted in a call to
come to Christ on the cheap. His sacrifice has no
real value worth paying for personally.
This distortion of the good news is called "Cheap
grace" and it is revealed in the preaching of
forgiveness without requiring true repentance, and
permits baptism without church discipline and
obedience. Cheap grace is grace without
discipleship; it is grace without taking up the cross
of Jesus Christ which He said is necessary for all
to enter the kingdom of God. (Matt 16:24) If no
cross is taken up, there will be now crown in
heaven. (James 1:12) Easy belief with no personal
cost is not true faith, and will be rejected. Cheap
grace offers a life of comfort and material success
in this world, at the expense of indentifying with
the suffering and service of our Master in order to
follow His example to be like Him.
This form of easy believing has divided Christians
into those who have come to Christ with nothing
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more to do, and those who follow Christ as His
disciples who desire to obey all He has
commanded. This division is intended to justify
separating the so called ordinary Christian from
the disciple who goes on to endeavour to live the
life of Christ. The false teaching that claims there
are two classes of believers; suggests we can
choose which one suits us, for in their eyes both
are supposed to be acceptable to God.
But true faith results in an immediate commitment
to obedience to the commands of Jesus to live a
life of holiness, that is, according to His teaching.
The two ways proposed is the false idea that we
can have Jesus as Saviour, but not necessarily as
Lord, this is what is contrary to God's word.
People, who advocate for easy Christianity, or
“free grace,” do not deny the necessity of good
works, but they distinguish the call for salvation
from the call to discipleship. Their good works are
intended to replace the work of God who works
His will in the disciple who comes humbly to
Christ as Lord.
In itself good works won't work because they are
the work of man and not God. Being a good
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person in our own eyes is not what God requires,
He requires a new life, and a new life means death
to our good works so a new life in the Spirit can
be given in order for us to enter the kingdom of
God. A person who is good in their own eyes has
mistakenly bought a ticket to heaven from a false
prophet. They are mistaken because there is no
bus coming which will accept their ticket. The
only key to heaven is the cross of self denial and
sacrifice as we receive the Spirit of God in
flowing Jesus’ teaching and His example of living.
Easy Christianity is really nominal Christianity,
and nominal means the commitment is to the
name of Christ only, while ignoring conformity to
the inward life of Christ. The nominal Christian
thinks they have bought a ticket to eternal life, but
don't understand there is no one coming to take
them to heaven.
Another important point to remember is the cheap
grace people fail to realise they are involved in
spiritual warfare. As non combatants they presume
on God to protest them even while they fail to take
up the means of their own protection He has
provided. (Eph 6:10-18) Their failure to follow His
directions makes them easy targets for the enemy;
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an enemy they don't even acknowledge is there at
all!!!
The proof of being in Christ is our lives will be
motivated by His Spirit so that we begin to live
His life under His power and dominion. No Spirit,
no life. "If anyone does not have the Spirit of
Christ, he does not belong to Him." (Rom 8:9) And
not only does the nominal Christian not have
access to the abiding presence of God by the
Spirit, they also show no evidence of His peace
when the storms of life blow their house built on
sand way. (Matt 7:26) Peace is only possible for
the obedient disciple who abides in Him. "If you
keep My commandments, you will abide in My
love; just as I have kept My Father’s
commandments and abide in His love." John 15:10
For nominal Christians, holy living is mostly
about religious observance, wholesome conduct,
pleasant conversation and untarnished character to
gain the favour of the world. But discipleship is
much more; true Christianity is actually doing
what Jesus commanded. Doing what He said to do
has to mean walking as He walked (1 John 2:6) as
He set us an example of how to live before God.
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Doing what He did means making other disciples,
teaching them to obey all He has commanded by
setting a good example.
If our Church has slipped into the habit of easy
believing, the requirements Jesus set for His
follows will be neglected. If this is true in the local
Church, how can we walk as He walked if we
have never been taught and don't know what that
means? How can we make disciples if we don't
know what a disciple is? How can we teach them
all He commanded if we don't know what He
taught and charged us to do? If we have not been
taught to walk with Him in His word, to observe
how He treated others, to listen to what He said,
and be amazed at how He conducted Himself in
very trying situations; how could we possibly
know what we should do? How can sincere people
quickly become disciples if they are never taught
and exhorted to deny themselves and take up their
cross to follow Jesus to obey all He commanded?
The objection expressed by real disciples
confronting cheap faith is the teaching that calls us
to salvation also includes a call to repentance and
holy living. The life of the natural man must go to
the cross, (Rom 6:3-4) and a new man must be born
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again by the Spirit in order for us to have
fellowship with God. (John 3:3, 6. 1Cor 15:50) In
other words, the objection is that the teaching of
free grace has become a teaching of cheap grace
and compromise.
Real salvation is a call to discipleship under the
guardianship of the Spirit. One cannot have Jesus
as Saviour without also bowing down to Him as
Lord to be obeyed.
Now, because of this unbiblical teaching of cheap
grace, the Church suffers weakness and
compromise by deception, and is greatly
diminished in its ability to minister compassion
and loving service to a suffering world. Because
the Church has been compromised by cheap grace,
unbelievers use this as a further excuse to deny
God, as if the example of weak worldly men can
be substituted for our might God. Consequently, if
the Church compromises the cost of discipleship,
unbelievers will consider the Christian life to be of
no value to them concerning eternal life, they will
see no appreciable difference between themselves
and the nominal Christians they observe; and they
will be more likely to listen to Satan's lies.
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If true discipleship is not made clear in the
beginning, the love of God in reaching the lost
will be distorted, and the work of reconciling men
to God will be ineffective.
Whatever be the case, we must clearly show that
those who are the genuine article as disciples of
Jesus are One life with all real believers. In Christ
there can only be One Spirit, One life, One
passion, and One purpose with the will of God.
This is why Jesus in His Great Commission to the
disciples, didn't tell them to go and get people
saved; He commanded them to go into all the
world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them and teaching them to observe all that He had
commanded. Matt 28:19-20
Therefore salvation and discipleship cannot be
separated for they go hand in hand. They are two
sides of one coin. A person who is saved is a
disciple and one who observes (keeps, obeys) all
that Jesus has commanded.
As a result there is no two-stage process in
Christianity—first, to be saved; and then become a
disciple. This is not in the Bible. This unfounded
distinction is foreign to the New Testament and
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therefore foreign to Christianity. Jesus says to the
crowds in Luke 14:25-33 to hate family, in effect
that He must come before family.
Furthermore, the one who cannot bear their own
cross cannot be His disciple. These two clear
conditions are given by Jesus for people to do if
anyone is to be His disciple, no exceptions. The
first condition is to be willing to renounce family
if necessary in order to follow Jesus. The second
is to be willing to die, both literally and
symbolically it is to “die to self” in order to follow
Jesus.
Furthermore, Jesus taught that discipleship
requires repentance and obedience. At the
beginning of Jesus’ ministry, He preached a
message of repentance. (Matt 4:17) The message of
the apostles after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension
was also one of repentance. (Acts 2:38) “Why do
you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell
you?” (Luke 6:46). Jesus sets apart the one who
builds his house on the sand of unbelief and
disobedience, from the one who builds his house
on the Rock, that is, the man who not only hears
the words of Jesus, but does them. Matt 7:24-27
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Cheap grace seeks to hide from people the cost of
building on the Rock of Christ. It seeks to claim
that as long as we make a profession of faith, we
are saved. Since God is love, He loves all of us
unconditionally. Again that is an awful distortion
of the truth! Salvation by grace alone through faith
alone after repentance is so much more than
simply mouthing the words “Jesus is Lord.”
We are not saved by a profession of faith. We are
not saved by praying the Sinner’s Prayer. We are
not saved by signing a card or walking an aisle.
Fervour is no indication of God's favour. We are
only saved by a living and active faith, (James 2:14-26) a faith that manifests itself in
repentance, obedience and uncompromising love
for God and our neighbour. Salvation is not a
transaction; it’s a transformation. Paul says we are
“new creations” in Christ. 2 Cor 5:17
There is nothing “cheap” about grace! There
cannot be a new life without a death to the old life. We cannot be born again as new creations and still
want to live our old life as before.
Jesus stated clearly what it means to follow Him:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny
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themselves and take up their cross daily and
follow Me. For whoever wants to save their life
will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will
save it. What good is it for someone to gain the
whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very
self?" Luke 9:23–25
Our modern understanding of the phrase "take up
their cross and follow Me" is mostly inadequate.
In Jesus' day the cross always symbolised death.
When a man carried a cross, he had already been
condemned to die. Jesus said that, in order to
follow Him, one must be willing to die. We will
not all die a martyrs’ death. We will not all be
imprisoned, beaten, or tortured for our faith. So
what kind of death did Jesus mean?
To follow Christ means we die to our own way of
doing things. (Gal 2:20) We consider our will, our
rights, our passions, and our goals to be crucified
on the cross with Him. Our right to direct our own
lives is dead to us. (Phil 3:7–8) This death involves
suffering. The flesh that remains in us does not
want to die. Dying to self is painful and goes
against our natural inclination to seek our own
pleasure.
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True Disciples pay a price to follow Christ
Jesus told us the world is a dangerous place for
Christians: "If the world hates you, you know that
it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the
world, the world would love its own. Yet because
you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the
world, therefore the world hates you. Remember
the word that I said to you, "A servant is not
greater than his master." If they persecuted Me,
they will also persecute you. If they kept My word,
they will keep yours also. But all these things they
will do to you for My name's sake, because they do
not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and
spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now
they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates
Me hates My Father also." John 15:18-23
The followers of Jesus are often ostracised by
their own families and communities, and some of
the worst persecution came from religious leaders. (Acts 4:1–3) So Jesus told His followers, "Blessed
are those who are persecuted because of
righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven." (Matt 5:10) He reminded His disciples, "If
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the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me
first." John 15:18
We cannot avoid suffering with Christ and be
saved and then be double minded. Our obligation
is to continue the work of the cross we began
when coming to Christ, even if it kills us. 'The
Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are
children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs
of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we
suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified
with Him.' Rom 8:16-17
By choosing to obey the Lord Jesus Christ, we
consciously set ourselves at odds with the world.
"For am I now seeking the favour of men, or of
God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were
still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-
servant of Christ." (Gal 1:10) By closely adhering
to the teachings of the Bible, we set ourselves up
for rejection, mockery, loneliness, or betrayal.
Often, the cruellest persecution comes from those
who consider themselves spiritual but have denied
God according to their own ideas. If we choose to
take a stand for righteousness and biblical truth,
we accept we will often be misunderstood,
mocked, or worse.
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There are many people who choose deceiving
ways of denying Christ because they do not want
to suffer for Him. However, regardless of the
suffering that comes to us; we should embrace it
as a badge of honour and a privilege that we, like
the apostles, have "been counted worthy of
suffering disgrace for the Name." 'And not only
this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing
that tribulation brings about perseverance; and
perseverance, proven character; and proven
character, hope; and hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out
within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was
given to us.' ` Rom 5:3-5
We must always listen to the Lord Jesus if we are
to be faithful disciples, committed to His Church.
“If you love Me, you will keep My
commandments." (John 14:15) “If anyone loves Me,
he will keep My word; and My Father will love
him, and We will come to him and make Our
abode with him." John 14:23
Christ is coming again, are you ready?
You are facing the end of your life, and if you
haven't surrendered to His life, you are not
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ready for Him. If you live when He comes
again and still do things your way, you are not
ready. Regardless of all the opposition, all the
deception and lies, there remains the true body
of Christ, His Church, His bride. And Christ is
coming for His own people, His Church we
call the bride of Christ.
His harvest fork is in His hand, to sort the
obedient from the disobedient, the chaff from
the hay, the weeds from the wheat, the faithful
from the unfaithful, and the bride from the
adulterers.
He has said: "Behold, I stand at the door and
knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the
door, I will come in to him and will dine with him,
and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant
to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also
overcame and sat down with My Father on His
throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches.” Rev 3:20-22
Abide in Him
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